Hydraulic damper/strut assemblies are commonly used in vehicle suspension systems for bearing a load and damping vibrations between a body and wheel assembly of the vehicle. An example of a hydraulic damper assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,015 to Orville Derdnand Genz which includes a housing that extends about and along an axis and defines an interior wall and a chamber for holding a fluid. A piston assembly that has a core is disposed in the chamber and is axially moveable in the chamber for providing a damping effect during movement of the piston assembly. A wear band is disposed about the core for engaging the interior wall of the housing during movement of the piston assembly to allow the strut to take on side load forces.
An issue with such hydraulic damper assemblies is that the wear band and/or interior wall of the housing may erode over time, which may undesirably change the damping characteristics of the damper assembly. Accordingly there remains a need for improvements to hydraulic damper assemblies.